Machine for making pouches



July 6, 1937. P. M.Y YEATEs 2,086,141-

MACHINE FOR MAKING POUCHES Filed April 27, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l z l I l I r E T o o n 1o f 16 w10 1O` 2s "I S\ 27%" l tE I O O- J` E i, l, l E

h? wzl/o o zg l 5 0 4 I J Q July 6, 1937. P. M. YEATEs MACHINE FOR MAKING POUCHES Filed April 27, 1936 v2 Sheets- Sheet 2 Patented July 6, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MACHINE FOR MAKING POUCHES Percy M. Yeates, Toronto, Ontario, Canada `Application April 27, 1936, Serial No.776,609 7 claims. (c1, 1s`1e)` for the use of the smoker until the quantity of the packaged tobacco is exhausted.

A further and important object is to provide a machine for sealing the ends of the fabric,`

from which the pouches are constructed, in a very effective and convenient manner and which will be very easily operated.

The principal features of the inventionconsist in the novel method of folding a sheet of rubber-coated fabric and pressing and sealing the folded portions together to close the ends of a pouch and further, in the novel construction and arrangement of a plurality of heated dies and means for periodi-cally applying pressure against said heated dies to seal the coated folded fabric arranged therebetween.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevational view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detail plan View of the sealing mechanism.

Figure 4 is a detailed elevational View of the sealing mechanism.

Figure 5 is a vertical cross sectional view of 'the sealing mechanism taken on the line 5--5 .of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a plan View of the pouch strip as sealed in the machine.

Figure 'I is a plan view showing the pouch as severed from the strip shown in Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a plan view of a pouch packed with tobacco.

Tobaccopouches are usually formed of a strip of suitable material having one end folded over a portion of the remainder and the edges of the folded-over portion are secured usually by stitching.

The present invention has to do with a pouch which is made for a single service only, that is to say, it is expected only to last during the use of the original quantity of tobacco packed therein and a material has been developed for the use of such purpose, of a sheet of paper or very light fabric, over one face of which a surface coating of rubber is placed.

According to the present invention a sheet `I `of paper or other fabric, rubber-covered on one side and of a width suflicient to form a plurality of pouches, is doubled over as shown in Figure 6, the doubled-over portion being approximately one third of the length.

The outer edges 2 of the doubled-over 'strip are then sealed-,ias also are strips 3 intermediate of the width ofthe main sheet and it is the method and means for sealing these strips to which the present invention applies.

In the apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2, a plurality of endless carrier `belts 4 are mounted uponpulleys'5 and 6 carried on shafts 'I and 8 respectively,v mounted horizontally in suitable bearings on a suitable frame or support. Intermediate of the length of the belts 4, thatv is, approximately midway between the pulleys '5 and 6, is arranged a frame structure 9,-'in which are mounted between the upper reaches of the belt and outside of the outer one, the die blocks I0, which are rigidly secured to the base II of the frame 9. These die blocks are preferably heated by means of electric resistances embedded therein which will maintain a uniform temperature of said die blocks throughout their operation.

At either end of the base and close to the end supports of the frame 9- are arranged pairs of upright rods I2 which are encircled by coil cornpression springs I3 arranged between the base II and the die-holding bar I4 which is provided with bosses I5 encircling the upright rods.

A shaft I 6 is `horizontally yjournalled in the framev 9 centrally above the bar I4 and on this shaft are mounted a plurality of cams I? which are formed with the concentric portion I8 diverging eccentrically in the portions I9 to the larger concentric portions 20. These cams engage arched spring members 2| mounted on the die bar I4 and upon the cams being rotated the eccentric portions I9 press the die bar downwardly into close engaging contact with the heated dies mounted on the base. l

The belts I being arranged between the respective die blocks, are supported, so that .their upper surfaces are slightly above thetop surfaces of the die blocks I Il, by blocks 22 which are preferably of wood and a sheet of material placed on these belts and extending across the same will be carried over the die blocks, so that when the cams I'I move downwardly they will engage the top surface of the sheet of material being carried by the belts and will press Asame down tightly against the bottom die blocks.A

A shaft 23 mounted in journal bearings 24 atl 25 which are formed with upturned lugsf 26 lat their extremities which project upwardly between the belts and form stops, against which the strips of material to be operated upon are placed.

A bar 21 is rigidly secured to the shaft 23 at one end and rests upon the top of a cam 28 mounted on one end of the shaft I6. This cam is adapted to raise and lower the stop arms 25,V

the lowering period being gauged in definite rela-H tion to the location of the cams I'I in respect to the same to clear the sheets and the belts carry them away from the dies.

This device is particularly adapted to the manufacture of pouches for packaging tobacco.

Sheets of material surfaced with unvulcanized rubber are folded as shown and described in respect to Figure 6 and the folded sheets are placed one at a time upon the belts 4 to engagethe Vstop lugs 26 of the arms 25. As the shaft I6 rotates themcam 28Jlowers the. bar 21, thereby lowering the arms 25 so that the lugs are withdrawn vbelow the upper surfaces of thev belts and the foldedA sheet is allowed to move forwardly with the belts toward the dies. i

As the folded-over portion comes between the die blocks, the cams, I 'I'force the die bar I4 down-VV wardly so that the dies clamp the folded portion tightly down againstthe heated bottom die blocks and hold the folded sheet tightly in contact with the heated die blocks a suficient length of time for the thin rubber coatings'of the adjacent surfaces of the folded sheets to be vul- Y canized together between Ythe contacting surfaces of the dies', which thus vulcanize the narrow edge-- strips 2 and the wider intervening strips 3.

Immediately upon the cams I'l releasing the die bar I4 the springs I3 move the bar upwardly and I remove the upper dies from contact with the folded sheet and the belts, which-are constantly in operation and which slip Vunder the, sheet whileV it is being held by the dies, or which slip on a friction clutch on the pulley drive, then move the sheet onward and the composite sheet is then severed along the dotted line bisecting the vulcanized portions 3 and each sheetjis -divided into a plurality of pouches whichare then ready to receive'the packing of tobacco in the folded-over portion.

The device is extremely simple, but is very effective in its operation, performing the function of pressing and vulcanizing dividing areas in a folded-over sheet.`

Itwill be understood that the surfaces of the dies may be cross-lined or corrugated to more intimately pressthe contacting surfaces together along the sealed portion andthus form a more secure union of the surfaces.

What I claim as my invention is:-

l. A machine for making pouches, comprising a plurality of narrow heatedI die blocks spaced apart, means for guiding a'sheet of material over said die blocks, a plurality of dies arrangedindividually one adjacent toV each of said'heateddie blocks, andl means for moving one ofsaid diesets into pressure contact withthe other of said die sets to compress and heat a sheet of material placed therebetween.V

2. A machinefor making pouches, compris` ing ai rigid base having a. plurality of narrowdie blocks arranged thereon and spaced apart, means for applying heat to said die blocks, a bar extending v over said die blocks and having dies secured thereto, means for moving said bar to bring the dies thereon into engaging pressure Contact with the dies arranged on said base, and means for raising said die bar and dies to'clear the heated dies' periodically,

3. A machine for making pouches comprising a base, a plurality of heated dies mounted on said base and spaced apart, guides arranged at each end of said base, a die bar slidably mounted on said guides, compression springsarranged to hold said die bar in a raised position, diessecured to said die bar in alignment with the heated dies mounted on the base, cams mounted to engage said die bar to press same against said compression springs and to bring the surfaces of the upper dies intopressure contact over the lower dies.

4. A machine for making pouches, comprising a base, a plurality of heated dies mounted thereon having narrow top faces, travelling belts arranged between said dies and adapted to carry asheet over said fdies, vertical; guides extending upwardly from the base, a die bar slidably mounted on said vertical guides having die blocks regis-. tering with the die blocks on saidv base, compression springs arranged between said die bar and the base to hold the die bar above said belts so that the dies are clear of the sheet carriedl thereby, a shaft extending over said die baiggcams mounted on said shaft engaging said die bar and having eccentric portions adapted to move the die bar downwardly, and concentric portions adapted` to hold the die bar in its downward position to squeeze a sheet'ofmaterial carried by said belts between said dies.l

5. A machine for making pouches as claimed in claim 4 having contact springs mounted on the` die bar to be engaged-by said cams to apply a springpressure upon a sheet held between the dies. f

6. A machine for making pouches, comprising a plurality of spaced-apart dies, a plurality of endless belts spacedapart and extending between said spaced dies adapted to carry a sheet thereover, arms having stop lugs arranged between said belts, a movable die support arranged above the aforesaid dies having die blocks to register with the aforesaid-dies, means for periodically moving said die-supporting member to engage a sheet carried over the lower dies by said belts, and means operated by said upper die-operating member for periodically lowering said stop arms to release` a sheet held thereby in timed relation 'to move said sheet by said belt to a pre-A determined position to be engaged by the die-operating cams. Y Y

7. A machine for making vpouches comprising a plurality of spaced dies, a pluralityof travelling belts extending between saiddies to carry a sheet thereover, a shaft extending transversely of the machine having arms extending between said belts, Vsaid arms having stop lugs thereon extending above the belts andto form a stop tohold a sheet placed on said belts, a verticallymovable, die member adapted to be moved into engagement, with `the aforesaiddies, .a shaft extending over said die member, cams mountedon said shaft for gaging said latter cam to lower said stoparms y in predetermined relation vto the movement of the dieoperating cams.

, PER'CY M, YEAT'ES. 

